Puppet Master
by Kaity the Chameleon
Summary: The Chaotix take on what appears to be a common case of kidnapping, but they soon find that their case is only one in a number of insane disapperances connected to someone called the 'Puppet Master', and things only get worse when one of them is taken. Complete.
1. A Father's Call

**_I know_**** I said I wouldn't be making any new stories until I finished _OC Heroes_ But I got inspiration for this one from my Touch Detective game and I had a request, which ended up with the requested character being in here...so I'd like to get it done ^^; But it won't stop me from finishing _OC Heroes_, I promise!**

******That aside, copyrights time! Espio the Chameleon, Vector the Crocodile and Charmy Bee belong to SEGA; Kaity the Chameleon and another character who will be appearing later on (C) me; and Silver Snatchel and Robert Snatchel both belong to CharmyxCream14**

Chapter 1: A Father's Call

Vector, without missing a beat on his headsets, glanced at the clock; nearly closing time and not a single client had come in. This worried the croc; work had been slow and a case hadn't been brought before them for nearly two weeks, which meant money was low, not counting what they would have to put aside for rent.

Just as Vector was considering having the group take up part-time jobs again (With the exception of Charmy), a knock on the door made nearly everyone jump from their places. "I'll get it!" Charmy volunteered, zipping over to the door before anyone else could protest. The little bee threw open the door and chirped cheerily; "Welcome to the Chaotix Detective Agency!"

The mobian who had knocked, a grown rabbit who Vector guessed was somewhere in his late forties, stepped into the room, blatantly ignoring his welcomer. The male rabbit looked around at the three detectives, wiping imaginary dust off his green suit, and said "Is this the Chaotix Detective Agency?"

Vector could already tell the man was either stuck up or rich. Maybe both. But he stood up from his desk and held out a hand to the grey rabbit, "Yep. I'm detective Vector. How can we help you?"

The rabbit's green eyes reflected his criticism as he shook Vector's hand, or perhaps the light had caught his glasses the wrong way. "My name is Robert Santchel, and my daughter is missing." At the mention of his daughter, the rabbit's eyes seem to soften to a worried look and pulled a picture of the girl from his wallet. His voice was tighter when he spoke again, "This is her."

Vector, immediately aware of the other three mobians piled behind him to see the photo, took a look at it; in the picture was a white rabbit girl, about nineteen, with silver eyes and a grey patch over the left eye, as well as grey ears. In the picture, the girl was positioned on a throne, one arm propping her up on one of the throne's arms and her legs thrown uncaringly over the chair's other arm. The day of the picture she had worn a silver dress with a white belt and silver high heels as well as a silver tiara. "How long ago was this taken?" Vector asked.

"Not long ago." Robery replied, taking the picture back when the four detectives were through looking.

"She looks like a sno-_Oof_!" Kaity was interrupted by Espio's elbow digging sharply into her ribs. The girl growled and rubber her stomach, "What's 'er name?"

"Silver."

"When did she go missing?" Espio asked, "More importantly, did you contact the authorities?"

"She went missing several hours ago," Robert began his tone an irritated one, "And I _did_ contact them, but they said she had to be missing for 24 hours before I could report it."

"I see." Vector nodded, "Do you know where she was going, last?"

"To the mall to buy clothes and shoes, like she always does."

"Well, when 24 hours have passed make sure you file a missing persons report with the police. She stands more a chance of being found with two groups looking for her."

The grey rabbit scoffed, "You think I didn't plan that to begin with?" He demanded.

"Of course we didn't" Espio stepped in with a level tone, "It's merely a remind is all."

Robert looked at each of the detectives, as if trying to find out if they had lied, "I want her found as soon as possible. I can pay any price you want."

Vector grinned, "We'll take the case, Mr. Santchel."

**OoOoO**

"What a snob." Kaity hissed once their new client was gone and assuredly out of ear shot.

"He was a meanie!" Charmy agreed.

"No kidding." Espio sniffed curtly, "But it's paying work, and we won't have to see much of him, so I suppose we can handle it."

"We'll have to. Money's too tight to say no." Vector put in, getting up from his desk and heading toward the door, "C'mon, boys, we're going shopping."

The other three groaned, already knowing their destination.

**It's been forever since I had to do copyrights...anyway, I got sort of stuck here and at least wanted to get a start today, so I'll try and make the second chapter longer. =3 Promise.**


	2. Walk Though the Mall

**I'm not sure where the ideas for this chapter came from, but I kidna like how it turned out =3 Also, sorry about the re-call, I forgot to add that Malice the rabbit and the other character introduced here are copyright to me =3 (Brick'd) _MOVING ON!_**

**Enjoy =3**

Chapter 2: Walk Though the Mall

"Vector, there's a problem with this plan." Espio spoke up after a few minutes of walking.

"What's that?" The croc asked, looking back at his smaller companion.

"We don't have a picture of Silver to use. Our client took the picture back, remember?" The other three detectives froze at this; they had completely forgotten.

**OoOoO**

After convincing their client to photo copy the picture they had been shown, the quartet was back on track and quickly on their way to the Station Square mall.

For a human, even to run there would have taken an hour and a half, and that's non-stop; for the mobians, however, it took only 25 minutes with all four going as fast as their slowest member. The mall was nothing special; a big building made mostly of different squares; one for each major store that took up the space. And a smaller bit of space between them for the lesser-known stores, as well as a food court.

The four found a directory as soon as they entered the building; the list for clothing and shoe stores was enormous.

"Okay...so how're we splittin' this up?" Kaity asked, scanning over the list with dread.

"I guess two of us will take the shoes and two the clothes." Vector shrugged, "They look about even, anyway."

"But it's still too many fer me." Kaity scoffed, "I call teamin' with Espio." she said immediately after; no telling what questions Charmy would start asking if she was stuck looking around in clothing stores.

Vector seemed to have the same idea and nodded, "Fine, you two look around the clothing stores, then." Both chameleons groaned loudly in protest. The croc crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes, "No more negotiations. The longer we stand here, the longer Silver is lost."

"Let's get this over with, then." Even Charmy didn't seem excited with the notion of walking around in shoe stores all day.

"We should meet in the food court a few hours from now," Espio suggested, "none of us have had lunch yet. We'll compare notes there."

Vector nodded in agreement, "Good idea; we'll meet there at about four."

**OoOoO**

"We got nothin'." Kaity said simply, popping a french fry in her mouth, "All we got were odd looks and weird-o's tryin' ta spray me with stuff." As a smirk twitched over Vector's snout, Kaity added with a hiss, "Don't laugh!"

Vector cleared his throat, choking down the laugh that was about to come, "We didn't find anything either."

"Not even new shoes." Charmy added as if it were the best piece of information they had.

Espio sighed, "Well, there's still a number of shops the look into." the chameleon picked up the list of store names he had made; about half the list was crossed off.

"Yeah, same here." Vector nodded, "We'll search the last few stores and meet back here, whadda say?" The other three nodded in agreement as the last bits of food were finished. The detectives went their separate ways once again in their search for the missing rabbit girl.

**OoOoO**

Espio and Kaity walked into one store that reeked of perfume and had a name scrawled in unreadable script all over the tiny store space with a surprising number of people milling around. The clothes resting on shelves and hanging on hangers looked expensive and luxurious.

"Gotta be the place." Both chameleons muttered together. Another few steps in, Espio came to an abrupt halt and shot out an arm to bar Kaity's way.

"What's the big-!"

"Look." Espio cut Kaity short, pointing to a familiar black and red rabbit milling about with a smaller rabbit girl.

"Malice..." Kaity murmured. "What's 'e doin' 'ere?"

"Shopping, apparently." Espio answered, "But who's the girl is what I would like to know." He moved carefully, with Kaity following, behind a rack of clothes to watch their enemy and the child.

The girl looked to be about ten; the girl's fur was dominantly brown with the exception of black rimming her floppy ears in a spiked fashion. She wore a light blue shirt with flowy short sleeves and a reasonably long skirt colored black. The girl hurried over to clothing display, looking in awe at a figure-flattering dress that was obviously too big for her. She turned only her head to look at Malice, who remained rooted in place. "I like this one! It'll look so pretty on Dawn!" she cried out happily.

Espio's golden eyes suddenly zeroed in on the girl's fingers; on each forefinger and pinky was a small ring made of wood painted white. Her right hand was twitched as if hesitantly playing an invisible piano. Almost immediately as this happened, Malice moved forward and stopped at the girls' side. The girl's middle finger of the girl's left hand twitched and Malice looked up at the dress. "Whatever you like, honey." Malice said in an almost dry tone. The girl's aqua eyes lit up in delight as the male rabbit picked up the outfit carefully and draped it over his arm. Kaity nudged her friend and pointed to the others bags Malice was toting around; several of the names they recognized from some point or another from their search.

"Can we get just _one_ more for Dawn?" The little girl asked with an innocent, pleading tone.

The left hand's middle finger twitched again and Malice looked down almost in unison with it. "We can get as much as you want, honey." the villain assured. The ten year old clapped happily and darted away to find another piece of clothing suitable. As soon as the girl left, Malice's ridged shoulders slouched, his expression suddenly dawning a tired, dizzy expression.

"We'd better get outta here before 'e spots us." Kaity said quietly, edging toward the door, "If 'e takes the kid hostage, we won't be able ta do anythin'."

"Hold on, I want to-" Espio froze mid-sentence. Malice's red eyes caught the gold of Espio's; for a moment, both males stood in stunned silence, then Malice quickly turned his back on the detectives and spoke urgently with the little girl. The girl looked suddenly sad be followed Malice to the counter with the clothes she had picked. Malice wrote something down for the woman at the register and quickly hustled the brown rabbit out into the mall's hallway.

Another tense moment passed and both chameleons let out the breath they had been holding, "Well that was...weird..." Kaity said finally. "Suppose Malice is in on the kidnappin'?"

"It would fit his style," Espio pondered, "Silver appears to be rich, it makes sense he would kidnap her for the money. Besides, those clothes were too big for that girl."

"But they'd fit Silver."

"Most likely." Espio nodded. The chameleon then walked immediately over to the register Malice had paid at; the brown-haired human smiled at him in greeting. The chameleon boy only nodded in acknowledgement, "That man who just came through, what did he write down for you?" He asked.

"Sorry, I can't-"

"I'm a detective." Espio cut in, "And that rabbit is a known criminal, my partner and I suspect the girl was him was kidnapped."

The human girl looked at him in shock, then quickly fumbled for the slip of paper, "He wanted me to send what he bought to his house, this is the address he gave me."

Espio took a quick glance at it, committing the name and number to memory, and handed the paper back. "Thank you." He nodded, and turned quickly to leave the store, Kaity in tow.

**OoOoO**

The group met up once again, and headed back to the CDA, discussing what they had found out on the way.

"Malice?" Vector gaped, "I guess it'd make sense if the girl was rich, but why go buying all that stuff for her?"

The male chameleon shrugged helplessly, "Maybe he has a bigger plot in mind?"

"Could be..." Vector nodded, "And Silver _was_ seen in a couple of the stores we stopped at, but no one mentioned her being with anyone who looks like Malice.

"But we're gonna find out about Silver and Malice, right Vector?" Charmy asked, buzzing close by his reptilian friend.

Vector nodded, "You got it, kid."

**I honestly have no idea what I'm doing for the next chapter, sooooooooo...yeah... =D;;**


	3. A Deeper Mystery

**Actually kinda happy with how this chapter turned out...it's kinda slow, but I'm still happy with it =D**

Chapter 3: A Deeper Mystery

"This is the place." Vector said, glancing up from the address Espio had written down; the address led them to a run-down, single story house that looked to be in desperate need of a cleaning.

"We always go to the nicest places." Espio remarked with a hint of sarcasm, approaching the broken wood fence that surrounded the property. "For one of Malice's hide-outs, security seems surprisingly lax."

"I'll go check 'round the place then." Kaity volunteered, already heading to the gate hanging on one rusty hinge.

The older chameleon's arm shot out and reeled the girl back. "I security was lax, not non-existent." He said, pointing to several cameras mounted to the door's frame, pointing directly at the doorstep.

Kaity smirked, "No problem, I'll just run 'cross the yard invisibly." With that said, she slipped out of Espio's grip and invisibly entered the yard. The older chameleon sighed; he already knew she wouldn't listen, but it had been worth a shot. His attention suddenly turned to a small black box he had passed on his first observation. It rotated to direct a hole the size of a penny at the invisible chameleon crossing the lawn.

The chameleon furrowed his eye ridges, fighting off the urge to scream for his friend to come back, maybe the box wasn't what he thought it was...But a second opinion would be nice. "Vector," He started, pointing up to the box, "Is it just me or does that look like..." He trailed off, hoping Vector would only stare at him and tell him to finish.

Instead, Vector looked up at the object, his eyes widening a bit and finished the sentence, "Anti-chameleon security?"

"That's what I though." Espio replied calmly, feeling a tight ball of worry forming in his stomach.

**OoOoO**

Kaity was half way to the door of the old house before a sudden pressure on the back of her head and frantic calls from her friends told her how much trouble she was about to be in. The chameleon quickly doubled back, just barely missing a bullet that penetrated the ground she had once stood on. There was no use in staying hidden; Kaity let go of her concentration, allowing herself to be seen again.

"Come on! Faster!" Vector called, flailing his arms frantically with Charmy at his side. Espio didn't quite take it as far as arm-flailing, but he stood leaned almost completely into the yard, ready to throw the 14-year-old chameleon over the fence when she got close enough. Several seconds and many bullets later, Kaity was back over the fence, sitting on the sidewalk with her fellow detectives.

"That...was _awesome_." she said between quick breaths of air in an attempt to regulate her breathing.

Vector cuffed her in the head, "You could've gotten kill by that, you're lucky Espio and I saw it in time."

"So, are we not getting in, Vector?" Charmy asked with a frown.

Vector shook his head, "Not though the front door, anyway...and if I know Malice as well as I think I do, we're not getting in thought the back either."

"We need a new plan." Espio sighed, "No doubt Malice already knows we're here, we might as well-" The chameleon was interrupted as Vector quickly dragged him into the shrubbery standing just outside the property line.

"Get down!" He said in an urgent whisper, "And stay quiet!"

"What is it, Vector?" Charmy asked in a voice apparently too loud for the croc's liking; Vector slapped a hand over Charmy's tiny mouth, though his hand took up about 90% of the bee's face, making it impossible for Charmy to speak again or see.

"I said 'Shhhhh'." He said back, keeping his voice down. "Now stay quiet, they're coming."

Kaity spoke up this time, "Who's-ow!" A quick punch to the shoulder silenced the girl; aside from a few angry grumbles, that is. The group watched in silence as two mobians rounded the corner and walked toward the address the Chaotix were hiding in front of. The teenage mobian they recognized; a handsome chameleon boy with black scales and shamrock green eyes.

He was almost immediately followed by a ten-year-old rabbit girl Espio recognized instantly; her clothes were different, but it was the same girl that had been with Malice the day before. Today the rabbit girl wore blue jeans with an orchid purple T-shirt above a long-sleeved white shirt, also new was her more malicious expression. "Vector," he said quietly, "that's the girl that was with Malice." The chameleon reported; noting how frantically the girl's fingers were twitching.

"It is..." Kaity nodded, "But what's she doin' 'round here? 'Spically with 'im?" she asked, nudging her head slightly toward her escort.

The group quieted down as the duo came close and passed by. As the girl started across the yard, her eyes went up to the security that was suddenly pointed at them; once she and the chameleon boy arrived at the door, she pointed up at it and snapped in a tone much harsher than Espio remembered, "Knock out that thing; _now_."

"Yes, Poppy." The chameleon said in a passive tone mixed with resentment. The black chameleon quickly went to something the Chaotix couldn't see from their position.

"And make sure you turn it back on once we leave; I don't want anyone getting in here after we get Dawn's clothes."

"Yes, Poppy." The chameleon boy opened the door and stepped aside to let the rabbit girl in first then followed her in, closing the door behind him.

**OoOoO**

The detectives sat in silence for a while longer, but the girl, Poppy, and her escort didn't re-emerge.

"Vector, I'm getting sore." Charmy whined quietly.

"No kiddin', I'm pretty much numb." Kaity added, shifting her weight to her other foot. "I say we bail."

Even Espio seemed tired of staying in his crouched position, "I agree, we know where they send things for this...Dawn girl, we can always come back and stakeout the building another day." Then he added quickly, "Or we can sneak back tomorrow to investigate the house, it may indicate where Malice is _really_ hiding."

Vector turned to his crew, startled that Espio's expression was quite the opposite of his calm tone; if the croc had been looking at Espio's expression while he spoke, he may have gotten the impression that Espio was giving him the option to stay and watch or be killed. He sighed and nodded a bit, "Fine, we'll come by tomorrow...we'll look and see if we can find anything about their Poppy girl...or Dawn."

**OoOoO**

Back at the Chaotix, they found nothing about Poppy or Dawn.

"What about the address?" Espio asked, "Can we find out who's living there?"

"If we asked around, yeah, probably." Vector nodded, "We'll look into that once we head back there."

"Or," Kaity grinned, "We could just get a hold of that little snitch and-"

"No." Vector said flatly, "We're making sure Malice doesn't know at all we're on to him."

"A bit late for that," Espio pointed out, "After all, he saw Kaity and I at the mall. _Spying_ on him."

Vector growled in frustration, "Well then, we'll think of something..."

"Speakin' of the snitch," Kaity cut in, "Ya notice how 'e reacted ta the kid? Poppy?"

"Yeah, he didn't like her very much." Charmy nodded. "Or he just didn't like her bossing him around."

"Either way," Espio countered, "If he finds out what we're doing, chances are Malice will too."

**I can't think of anything to write here =D ...except _IT'S ADVENTURE TIEM!_ Okay, I'm done =D**


	4. The Twisted Twist

**Faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaail chapter title =D**

**I'm acutally surprised how big this got after I started writing 8D espically since I couldn't say much more about Poppy's escourt in the last chapter...but, hey, I'm at least happy I finally got this updated. Enjoy =D**

Chapter 4: The Twisted Twist

By closing for the Chaotix Detective Agency, there was still nothing on Poppy or her friend Dawn. So, disheartened and tired, the Chaotix one by one slipped into their rooms for the night. The last to go was Vector, who quickly joined his friends after a sheet of paper finally _putt-putt-putt_ed its way out of the printer.

**OoOoO**

Vector grumbled as two voices woke him, combined with shaking or pounding on his shoulder.

"Vector, wake up." Espio's voice sounded urgent.

Vector batted the hands away and pulled the blanket clear over his head. "Nnuurrg..." He grumbled in response. Urgent or not, he was still tired. A fist suddenly came down on his rib cage, making the croc cringe.

"Hey, wake up! There's somethin' crazy goin' on on the TV." Kaity's voice demanded, whacking him again for good measure.

Vector lowered the blanket only enough to make eye contact with the two chameleons standing in his room, "Define 'crazy'." He grumbled.

"As in 'dead people robbin' banks' crazy."

This made Vector sit up straight, now on full alert; "No kidding?"

Espio shook his head, "According to what the police are saying-"

"Let's just show 'im." Kaity cut in, "Get up; yer gonna miss it." With that, Kaity pulled Espio from the room, leaving Vector to follow after them. It wasn't long after that the head of the CDA was sitting in front of the TV with the two teens, watching the scene on screen carefully.

"For those of you just joining us," The red-haired news reporter said, "The police have encountered a mysterious case or the living dead. Literally." She does an odd side-step motion to look back at the bank behind her swarming with police and a few corpses lying out on the sidewalk with bags dropped near them, "According to police and witnesses alike, these reanimated creatures burst in and held up a bank. When caught they simply went limp, according to reports, this isn't the first baffling case the police of Station Square has come across; a jewelry store not too far from our current location was also held up by these rotting robbers with the same effects."

Vector whistled, "Crazy stuff. And we haven't heard about this yet?"

"The first robbery happened yesterday," Espio explained with crossed arms, "We were out spying on Poppy if the times are accurate."

Vector whistled again and tuned back into the news as an officer was now on screen with the reporter, "Officer, what's your theory on these strange cases? Have the police come up with an explanation for this mysterious incident?"

The officer, a pudgy-looking human with brown hair, answered with "I can't comment on _how_ this is happening, but the motive is clearly for the cash involved. Why whoever is doing this is using zombies is beyond me."

"How do you know for sure that these aren't merely mechanical dummies?"

"Well if they are, they're the best made _I've_ ever seen." The human took off his hat to wipe his forehead quickly then slipped the hat back on, "And we've gotten several calls identifying some of the captured...erm...bodies. Our medical examiners had assured us that these people were dead long before any attempts on these robberies." He tipped his hat, "Now if you'll excuse me, ma'am." and left quickly to get back to his job.

The reporter turned back to the camera, "And there you have it; the undead doing the dirty work of some twisted criminal. This is Scarlett Garcia reporting."

Kaity flicked off the TV and looked at Vector. "Well?"

"Well what?" Vector asked back.

"Well, whadda think?"

The boss shrugged, "I dunno, some crazy?"

Both chameleons sat in silence for a moment. Finally Espio asked, "Vector...Didn't I tell you about Poppy's fingers?"

For a moment Vector was quiet; if Espio had said anything about it, it had slipped the croc's mind. "I think so..." He strained his mind to remember, until it suddenly clicked into place. "You mean about her fingers twitching?"

Espio nodded once, "Yes."

"That could be anything, Espio. It could be some kinda tick she's got or something."

Espio shook his head, "Back in the mall she moved certain fingers at certain times. When she used a certain finger something would happen to Malice."

"Maybe he just happened to be moving like that at the time."

"Same thing happened when we saw her back at that pick-up location."

Silence. "Okay, so you're thinking her twitching is involved with this somehow?" He gestured to the television.

Kaity rolled her eyes; "Vector._ I_ twitch. What that girl was doin' wasn't twitchin', she knew exactly what she was doin'. 'Side, it's not crazy ta think she's involved."

Vector crosses his arms, "And why's that?"

Espio cut in now, "Remember the reactions of both people around her?" He reminded his boss, "Both were passive yet resentful. And we all know neither of them like being controlled."

Vector thought this over for a moment, "So, Poppy's controlling living and undead."

Kaity nodded, "Yeah, pretty much."

"In theory." Espio added, "And if this is all connected to what we saw at the mall, then perhaps we'll find Silver as well if we find where Malice is hiding out."

"And stop mass burglary by dead people." Vector added with a sarcastic huff.

"Yeah, it'll be awesome." Kaity replied casually with a nod.

"If we're gonna find Malice, we'd better look around that house again, maybe someone left some kind of indication of where the real hide out is."

"Or," Espio added, "If we go on experience, Malice's hideouts are usually out in the slums among the more steady buildings."

"Except we don't have time to go through that _entire_ area, decide which are and aren't stable _then_ check each one for Malice. We'd have more luck just following him if we're given the chance." The three were silent after Vector's final comments; there was no way they was just 'run into' Malice on the street, which left searching the house they had been to the previous day as the easiest way of gathering whatever information they could. Not long after the a mutual decision had been reached, Charmy broke from his room, more than ready to start the day...after breakfast, that is.

**OoOoO**

Once the team of four reached the house, an old problem presented itself; the anti-chameleon security system.

"Okay, smart guy," Kaity half leered at Vector, "what's yer plan ta get us past the security?"

But Vector was ready with a smirk, "Ya know how anti-chameleon works?" The question seemed to stun the smaller reptile into silence, so vector went on; "A reptile's body heat can't be picked up by any kind of heat seeker; we don't have enough for that, an you obviously get by cameras and infrared security easily since there's nothing to see go block a security beam." The croc waited for his friend to catch on, but when it didn't happen, he went on once again, "All that leaves is pressure security."

Kaity straightened a bit, "Oh, well that makes sense."

Vector pulled the sheet he had printed the night before from his glove and showed it to his team; The picture was of a square area with grey dots arranged like a grid around the square and a lighter red square emitting from each dot to the point that several overlapped in places. Espio, having already figured this picture was about the security they were about to go up against, understood immediately and spoke up, "I take it the dots are some sort of...pressure pads." he half asked.

"Kinda," Vector shrugged, "They're more of just a base of operations."

A quick process of thoughts and Espio was talking again, "The grey dot is the center of each...'pressure pad'...and the red squares represent the area each one covers. So, when someone or something, applies enough pressure, the dot picks it up as an intruder, someone transmits this to the pressure gun and allows it to get the general area of a target."

"That's about it." Vector nodded.

"No wonder they sell fer so much." Kaity said, glancing at the small box that had come close to shooting her several times the day before. "But can't we just throw magnets at 'em or somethin'?"

Vector hitched a thumb toward the box, "It's covered in a pretty thick layer of plastic to try and prevent that...and the operation center's are usually kept underground to keep from being destroyed."

"But even if we got through it, there's still the code lock on the door." Espio cut in, "We'd be sitting ducks if we stood there trying to find the right code."

"I could fly someone over." Charmy volunteered cheerily.

The older three swapped surprised glances, none of them had thought of that at all. "Not a bad idea, kid." Vector said with a smile, "But are you sure you could hold one of us for that long?"

"I could try." Charmy chirped, obviously eager to play his big role in getting farther in the case. "Should I go see how long the code has to be, Vector? So you guys can figure it out?"

Again, more surprised looks; Charmy was thinking of _everything_ today. "Um...sure, go for it. Just be careful."

"I will!" As the bee crossed the yard in flight, the other three held their breath; nothing in the yard moved to acknowledge Charmy's being there. The little detectives, completely thrilled to be playing his big part, hovered low by the code panel; he could see only six spaces to enter something and a block of buttons set up like a phone's dial pad. He came back over just in time to see the reptiles let out a collective breath at his safe return. "It's gotta be six numbers, Vector." He reported with a giddy grin.

"Six numbers, huh?" Vector stroked his chin in thought, "Knowing Malice, it'll be probably something related to him."

"So why not just try, 'Malice' in numbers? I mean, 'e's got six letters in 'is name." Kaity shrugged.

"Speaking in numbers," Espio told her, "'M' is thirteen and 'L' is twelve. That would make our six-number code into an eight-number code."

Kaity thought about this for a moment; "So try four one three nine three five." Espio blinked a few times so Kaity answered, "One and three are four and one and two are three. So addin' up the numbers fer the double-digits puts us back at a six-digit code."

Espio thought this over for a moment, "Clever." He complimented, "Though now the code says 'Dacice'"

"Well, it's all we've got, so give it a shot, Charmy." Vector said, shooing the bee to his job.

"Yessir!" Charmy quipped, flying back over and in-putting the code. The other three were practically leaning on the fence as they waited. And waited. And waited. Their tiny friend finally turned in mid air, shook his head and yelled, "Says the password's been changed!"

**If you can figure out what the combination, you get a cookie. The only hit is that the name belongs to a mysterious someone mentioned in the story.**


	5. Breaking and Entering

**So yeah, unless you haven't read _Sonic Schooled_ yet, you already know I'm putting this on hold after this chapter 8D; Sorry 'bout that. But I just wanna let CharmyxCream13 know that I _do_ remember about her request for having her fancaracter in here, and I _will_ be getting back to this story as soon as I can...therefor other stories may not be updated as much as any _Sonic Schooled_ stories that may be in-progress at the time |D Really sorry 'bout this...**

Chapter 5: Breaking and Entering

The reptiles' heads quickly whipped from side to side, sure, the anti-chameleon system would only pick up pressure, but they hadn't thought of the other security system. The one called 'nosey neighbors'. Luckily, no such security made itself obvious, so the three quickly motioned Charmy back to them.

The frantic head-whipping told the bee it hadn't been a good idea to shout, so he buzzed over quickly, upset about how his team had reacted to his mistake. "Sorry..." He said in a sad tone, his antenna dropped some.

"Don't worry about it," Vector said with a shake of his head, "As long as no one heard and comes looking around, we should be fine."

"'Cept we still don't have the right password." Kaity huffed, "What else would Malice make a password? It's gotta be somethin' 'e'd remember."

"His Birthday would be too obvious." Vector said thoughtfully, "His nickname is 'blackjack' but that's too long for a six-digit code."

"He likes card games, right? What about 'cards'?" Charmy suggested

Espio converted the word to numbers and shook his head; "'Cards' adds up to seven numbers, and 'card' is five."

"What if you added them up again in 'cards'?"

"That would make it a five-digit code unless you added only one or the other together."

Vector, who had been quiet during this conversation, finally spoke up, "Try 'Poppy'."

"It's all double-digits...but if we added them, we get seven, six, seven, seven, seven."

"Like lucky seven." Kaity said, "Charmy, go try that out...and try all sevens while yer at it."

"Okay!" Charmy flew over quick and punched in the codes. Both were denied after some waiting, so the bee flew back to report it.

"Why mention Poppy, Vector?" Espio asked, though the chameleon had a feeling he already knew.

"We saw Poppy go in there yesterday; what if she changed the password on the way out?" Vector reasoned, "I mean, for the other two we tried, it said the codes were denied. With Malice's name, it said the password was changed."

"Meanin' that it _was_ the password at some point." Kaity put in with a nod. "Then maybe we outta try-"

"Dawn." Espio finished before the smaller chameleon could answer. "That'd be four, one, twenty-three, fourteen. Six numbers."

"Go for it, Charmy." the Crocodile nodded, sending the bee back over the gate.

Charmy flew over and punched in the code. He hovered as quietly as possible as he waited, his eye never leaving the panel. Green words spelled our 'accepted', though all the bee could see at first glance was 'accept', and the door's lock clicked out of place. "It worked!" The bee whooped, "Come on, guys, door's open!" With that, the insect pushed through the door and zipped inside.

The other three looked at one another and cautiously started into the yard; slowly at first, watching for the security to turn on them. But it never did, so the reptiles switched to normal walking speed, acting as if they _hadn't_ just broken into someone else's house and they in fact belonged there.

**OoOoO**

The inside of the house led the detectives to believe that no one had lived there for a while; the wooden floor was covered in a layer of dust that clearly showed the footprints of the mobians that had been in before them.

"Okay, so the place's a dump." Kaity said with crossed arms, "Nothin' we couldn't've found out by lookin' in a window."

"Yes, but we couldn't find this looking in a window." Espio answered, standing by a wooden end table, "Someone left us a message."

"They knew we'd be here." Vector muttered, walking over to see the message. The message was written out of the dust of the table; it read '_Turned me to a doll'_

"Turned me ta a doll? What's that supposed ta mean?" Kaity asked with a curt scoff.

"...It means Poppy definitely had something to do with those weird robberies." Vector murmured thoughtfully, setting off in a pace back and forth.

"I know we discussed the possibility," Espio said, "But how do we know Poppy didn't write that? Or someone before them even?"

Vector shook his head, "Couldn't be someone before yesterday; that message wipes away the whole layer of dust. And Poppy didn't seem at all like she was under someone's control when we saw her yesterday when we saw her with-"

"So then _he_ wrote the message, right?" Charmy cut in. "Poppy's controlling him?"

Vector nodded, "Bingo. Which means, if we can get him alone and away from Poppy and Malice, he may be willing to cooperate with us."

"Yeah, but that's _if_ we can get 'im alone." Kaity commented. "'Sides, it could be a trap or somethin'. I say we look 'round a little bt more." The males of the group shrugged; that _is_ what they had broken in to do.

The search didn't last long; the entire building was nearly stripped bare of furniture, carpets, and other removables. "So we can't go any farther until we get another clue." Vector sighed in irritation. "C'mon boys, let's get back to the angecy..."

**Yeah, lame ending here, sorry 8D;**


	6. The Silvertongue Speaks

**Yeah, it's been too long since I last updated, sorry |D But I'm writing again now, I swear! The next chapter for _Myahem in the Horrorverse_ is nearly done :D That in mind, I'll shut up now :D**

Chapter 6: The Silvertongue Speaks

As the four arrived back at the Chaotix Detective Agency, they spotted the black chameleon they were hoping to find sitting in a tree and watching the four. He slid the stereo headphones away from his ears and hopped down from the tree, looking as calm and charming as he had back when he had first met the Chaotix. "Took you long enough." He said with a slight smirk, "I was ready to start heading back to-"

"Cut the crap, Unknown." Kaity hissed darkly at the chameleon boy.

The black chameleon, Unknown, smiled coyly, "Still upset about our break up?"

"Ya tried ta kill me!"

"Yeah, and I would've hit you if you hadn't moved at the last second. You made me break my perfect kill score." Unknown shot back.

Espio seemed ready to jump into the conversation when Vector finally broke in, "We got your little message, Unknown. What's it mean?"

Unknown turned his attention away from the other two chameleons; it was suddenly obvious they were intent on starting a fight. "Exactly what it sounds like."

"You don't look like a doll." Vector replied in a tone to match Unknown's 'that-should-be-obvious' tone.

Unknown half snarled something then sighed, "Poppy can control people; anything with a brain, really." He started to explain.

"And Poppy's the little rabbit girl we saw you and Malice with?" Espio inquired.

"Yup." Unknown didn't bother looking at Espio to answer.

"I didn't think Malice was the type to just take in kids. Where'd she come from?"

"I dunno. One day Malice just came back saying he was taking Poppy in. I didn't find out until later that she had forced him into it."

"With her little...mind-control trick?"

"Duh. I can't find out anything about Poppy, though; when I try and ask her she always does something to avoid it."

"What _can_ ya tell us?" Kaity growled at the teen.

"That she has two sides to her," Unknown started, holding up two fingers to illustrate, "One side is a sweet little girl. The other is the one you saw with me; she's controlling and gets her kicks off making people do what she tells them to."

Espio thought a moment, "The nice side is who we must've seen with Malice, then." He said, though he knew only Kaity would know what he meant. "How does she change between them?"

Unknown shrugged, "As far as I can see, it's totally random."

"What about this girl, ya seen her?" Vector showed Unknown the picture they had Silver.

"Her?" Unknown paused a moment, then shook his head, "Nah, ever seen her in my life. Looks like a brat, though." Unknown turned to leave suddenly, "That's all I can tell you about-" The boy was stopped by a pair of massive hands coming down on his shoulders and spun him roughly around.

The hands were obviously Vector's; the croc glared darkly at the sixteen-year-old and lifted him by his shoulders until his vermillion eyes were level with the chameleon's shamrock green ones. "If you're lying, you're gonna regret it." He snarled at the chameleon.

"I want first crack at 'im!" Kaity interrupted, punching a fist into her open palm, "And I do mean _crack_." She added with a knowing smirk.

"Th-this is police brutality!" Unknown squeaked, squirming in the croc's grip.

"We're not officially part of the police force." Vector answered with a deviant grin, "Now, ya wanna re-think your answers?"

The black mobian nodded quickly, relieved when his feet were on the ground again. "I don't know her real name, but Poppy spends a lot of time talking to the girl you had in that picture...She's calls her Dawn."

"Where is she?" Vector asked, crossing his arms expectantly.

"Some room in Malice's base. But Poppy doesn't let anyone back there unless they're playing with her and her dolls. Or if they _are_ one."

"What about that story on the news?" Espio asked, "Was Poppy responsible for that?"

"You mean all that stuff about dead people robbing banks and jewelry stores? Yup, Poppy wanted to get more stuff for Dawn." the assassin took a cautious step back, "That's really all I know...I'm only telling you this 'cause I'm sick of Poppy making a doll out of me. If you can find a way to stop Poppy, I'll get you the girl you're looking for."

The Chaotix looked at one another skeptically; Unknown Silvertongue was more known for lying than keeping to a promise; but he was the only lead they had. "Fine." Vector decided, putting out a hand to shake, which Unknown took, "But if you double-cross us, I'll have to look the other way next time Kaity finds you."

Unknown glanced over Vector's shoulder and gulped; it didn't take a genius to figure out Kaity had threatened the other chameleon somehow. "Deal..." He said simply, getting out of the handshake and sprinting away as if they would change their mind in a moment.

**OoOoO**

Once he was gone, the Chaotix headed inside, "Well, that's one part solved." Vector said with a smile, "Now we've just got to get Silver away from Malice and everything should be good."

"Yeah, but how're we gonna do that?" Kaity asked.

"Well, Unknown said only someone with a doll or is a doll could get to her."

"Yeah, so?"

"So, one of us gets into the room with a doll, gets Silver out and boom, case closed." Vector snapped his fingers to illustrate how simple it would be.

"Easier said than done." Espio cut in, "I highly doubt Poppy would want to play with me or you, Charmy would lose focus and Kaity will most likely flat-out refuse."

"Damn right I will." Kaity smirked, "I'm not playin' with dolls."

"Fine, you can tell the client that we can't get his daughter back and we'll scrape by on the money have for however long it takes to get another job." Vector said in a miffed tone, crossing his arms.

Kaity's smirk faltered, "...Fine; but as soon as she suggests tea parties or dress-up, I'm outta there." the chameleon girl growled.

**Since I don't have to worry about Sonic Schooled anymore, We can finally get this damn plot moving DX Yar, Unknown Silvertonge is the black chameleon :D**


	7. Special Room, Special Guest

**I don't think I've mentioned this on here yet, but I finally have my own computer! Which means updates as soon as I finish up a chapter!**

Chapter 7: Special Room, Special Guest

Kaity growled at the doll in her hands; it was an old doll they borrowed from Cream, the little rabbit had been planning to give it to some goodwill program, but saw no harm in letting it be used to save another girl. The doll, Miss. Muffin, was a fluffy pink bunny with big eyes normally seen in an anime show and a tiny mouth smiling at the chameleon girl. The rabbit toy wore a light blue sundress and a tiny bonnet.

"Yer really creepy." Kaity told the doll, "If ya were my doll, I'd've gouged out yer eyes by now. They're creepy doll eyes."

The doll didn't respond. Naturally.

The detective sighed inwardly as she reviewed what she was supposed to do; roam around town until she found Poppy, play dolls for however long it takes and find Silver when they head to Malice's hideout. Finding the hideout was kind of a bonus; Malice had been eluding the authorities for a while.

**OoOoO**

After wandering for a few hours, the chameleon girl stopped in the park, threw the doll down next to her on a bench and sat down, grumbling about her boss' plan and hunger.

"That's a pretty doll you have." A little voice complimented cheerily.

The teen all but jumped at the voice, seeing the very rabbit she was looking for admiring Miss. Muffin. If what they had gotten from Unknown had been accurate, then the nice Poppy had decided to show up. "Um...thanks..."

"What's her name?"

"Um...Miss. Muffin."

"That's such a pretty name!" Poppy held up her own doll; a little brown bear that was obviously worn down from play with an old blue bow tied around its neck, "Teddy loves making new friends, does Miss. Muffin want a new friend?"

The fuchsia chameleon glanced around quickly; it would be her luck to have a friend spot her playing with a doll. She'd never live it down. Kaity took the doll and held in up straight, as if it were standing, "Um...sure..."

Poppy cheered and sat down next to the detective, Teddy and Miss. Muffin between them. "Hi Miss Muffin, I'm Teddy!" Poppy said in a deeper voice, trying to make her high child voice sound more masculine.

"Nice to meet you, Teddy." Kaity replied in a high-pitched voice, glancing around once more, just in case. The girl nearly jumped off the bench when she spotted an orange seedrian and relaxed immediately after once she realized the girl was too tall to be Laya, the six-year-old pyro she knew.

Poppy didn't seem to notice, though, she was more interested in their game. She turned Teddy to face herself and made it bounce while it 'talked' "Poppy, can Miss. Muffin and her friend come play in the Special Room?" it asked.

Poppy spoke in her normal voice, "Well, I don't know...Daddy Malice might not be happy about it..."

"Oh, please? pleeeeeeeease?" the little bear hopped around more.

Kaity jumped on her chance to get her misson finished quickly, "Yes, can I please come see your Special Room? It sounds so fun!" Kaity's high-pitched Miss. Muffin insisted, bouncing around too, "It'll be so much more fun then playing out here! Maybe we'll find more friends there!"

"Friends! Friends! Friends!" 'Teddy' cheered. "I want Miss. Muffin to meet Dawn!"

"Well...okay." Poppy finally gave in to her doll's request, "But you all have to pinky promise not to tell Daddy Malice." She insisted, putting out a closed hand with her pinky out.

"I promise!" 'Teddy' said, then turned around to face Miss. Muffin and her controller. "Do you promise, Miss. Muffin?" Poppy held out Teddy's arm for the promise.

"I promise." 'Miss. Muffin' agreed.

Poppy looked at Kaity now, "Do you promise?" She asked, putting her hand out in the same fashion.

_'What is this, kindergarten?'_ Kaity mentally scoffed, but nodded, wrapped her pinky around Poppy's and shook it briefly, "Promise."

The brown rabbit clapped happily and hopped off the bench, grabbing Kaity's hand to pull her along, "C'mon! It'll be so much fun!"

**OoOoO**

Poppy lead Kaity to Malice's hideout; it was slowly getting dark, so Kaity figured her directions could be a bit off if they went during the day.

"This is Daddy Malice's hose." Poppy explained cheerily, punching something into a pad by the door. It opened with a _swoosh_ and The little brown rabbit lead her guest into the hide out. Like the chameleon expected; it wasn't fancy or even like a normal living space; true, the building was in the heart of the slums but surprisingly stable. The inside was mostly metal walls and many rooms leading to different places; one the chameleon girl spotting looked like a computer room, another a lab of some sort, she even passed to room Poppy slept in. She could tell because the room looked like it was decorated from two different people. A room just past that also had a keypad lock on it.

"What's that room?" Kaity asked, pointing to it.

"Hmm?" Poppy looked back, "Oh, that's Unknown's room. He doesn't like anyone getting in." She explained. "It doesn't look that fun anyway, there's always loud music with funny words in it. Like this once song, it said Something about a high way to elfs...it's kind of funny."

Kaity walked silently, she was familiar with the song 'Highway to Hell' but wasn't about to correct Poppy's mistake with the lyrics. Not that she had a chance before Poppy stopped at a deadened hallway.

"The Special Room is just behind this wall." The little girl said cheerily; putting her hand on a particular section of the wall, making the wall swing open just enough from them to slip through.

Inside the room, Kaity noticed, was extremely different from the rest of the hideout; a plush carpet had been put in, pink wallpaper had been added and toys were placed all around the room. In the middle of the room, however, was a familiar white rabbit girl with a grey patch over her left eye and ears. Kaity recognized what she was wearing from Poppy and Malice's clothing from the mall, but the ruby necklace, she didn't recognize.

"This is Dawn." Poppy said, gesturing to the rabbit, "She's my favorite doll." Poppy walking over to Dawn, who sat on what looked like a metal throne Dr. Frankenstein would have liked and pressed a button on a machine hooked up to the chair. The captured rabbit crackled to life, her hands gripping the chair arm's tightly.

"Heellloo…" The girl started to say, her speech strained, "I aaaam Daawn…Willl you plaaay with meee?"

The smaller rabbit clapped her hands happily. "Dawn wants to play!" She quickly grabbed her teddy bear and pulled Kaity over to the carpet in front of the captures teenager.

**OoOoO**

While Kaity set out on her mission, the Chaotix focused on ways to catch, or at least stop, Poppy.

"She's young, it shouldn't be too hard to influence her." Espio said, "Though from what we've heard, getting her to good anything good could be difficult."

The head of the detectives glanced at their list so far; just a blank page. After a moment of pausing, the croc tossed the pad down, "I got nothin'." He announced, "Once Kaity gets back, we'll probably have a better idea of what she does and doesn't listen to." The younger members nodded in agreement.

The trio's attention was taken by the television making an announcement. Scarlet Garcia was the first reporter to appear, of course, standing in front of a museum. As the three detectives started to listen, the reporter's picture was replaced by one of an expensive looking ruby necklace.

"The Red Flower, once in display at the Station Square Museum, was stolen only minutes ago. The gem is valued at over a million dollars and an important piece from the Santchel collection." the red head said, in a calm voice.

The detectives perked, "Did she say 'Santchel'?" Vector asked, as if he wasn't sure he had heard correctly. "As in our client?"

Espio nodded, "It would appear so." Espio gestured to their client's face on screen, talking to a crowd of reporters. "I suppose he'll want us to recover that as well." he huffed.

"Hey, where is Kaity?" Charmy asked, looking around the room as if she would pop up at any minute. "It's dark out already."

Vector glanced around, as if the chameleon would appear if he looked hard enough. "Eh, she's a tough girl, she'll be back when she can." He answered. He hesitated, "And if she's not back by tomorrow night, we'll go looking."

**I was gonna make this chapter a bit longer, but I didn't like the idea of making this whole chapter about Kaity. |D I'll add more in the next chapter. Promise.**


	8. New Doll

**...Yeah, I have no excuse for how long this took =w= I was lazy and just didn't feel like writing. Sorry.**

Chapter 8: New Doll

"Let's play hide and seek!" Teddy suggested.

"Good idea, Teddy." Poppy beamed, looking at Kaity, "Does Miss. Muffin want to play hide and seek?"

Kaity was silent a moment then smiled, "Yeah, Miss. Muffin wants to hide, though. Is that okay?"

"Sure." Poppy smiled, "Teddy will count to ten then come looking for Miss. Muffin, okay?"

"Alright." Kaity picked up the doll, "No peeking." She said, dashing away as the girl turned to count for her doll. She squeezed out of the secret door; it would be easy to find it once she brought the Chaotix here with her.

She stopped suddenly as she heard footsteps coming down the hall.. _'Shoot! Hide!'_ she yelled at herself, diving for a hiding place in something that looked like a tuba case. She kept lid open a crack to watch; Malice walked through the hall, looked curiously as the half-open entrance then walked in.

Curious as ever, Kaity carefully climbed out of her hiding place and listened quietly at the door. "Poppy. You left the door open." Malice said.

"No, Miss. Muffin is hiding." Poppy said in a happy tone, "She's Teddy's new friend."

There was a silence. "That's…nice."

"Daddy Malice, Dawn in lonely." Poppy said in a sadder voice, "Can you get her a friend?"

"Of course I can, Poppy. In fact, I know exactly where to find her."

"Yay!" the chameleon could hear Poppy clapping her hands, "What's she look like, Daddy Malice?"

"Well, she's a smart little chameleon girl." Malice told the little rabbit, "She's a detective."

"A detective!" Poppy squealed, "We can play all kinds of mystery games together!"

"Me…?" Kaity said silently from her place at the door. The chameleon girl took a few cautious steps away from the door.

"I can't wait to tell Unknown and Miss. Muffin!" Poppy said happily.

Kaity backed only a few step more before hitting something that had not been in her path before, she spun around and found Unknown Silvertongue standing behind her. The black chameleon caught her arm just as it came up to strike him.

The older chameleon watched her for a moment mouthing 'sorry' to the chameleon girl as he dragged her back into the room. "Found someone sneaking around." He reported, though it was difficult for Kaity to decide which rabbit he was talking to.

Poppy had dropped her doll and glared at the chameleon girl. "Who is she?" Poppy demanded sharply.

Kaity stared questioningly at the girl; a moment ago, she had been a happy little girl. Nothing had happened to change her mood too drastically. _'This must be the other Poppy.'_ She decided, returning the glare.

The girl glared at Unknown, "Well?" She growled.

"Kaity the Chameleon, detective in the Chaotix Detective Agency, fourteen years old, her specialties are in speed, close-combat, snooping, and deduction. She has a crush on Espio the Chameleon but won't admit it." The black chameleon rattled off.

"Do not!" Kaity hissed at the boy. She was surprised how accurate the brief introduction had been, Poppy certainly had not put those in his head, so, she figured, they had to have been Unknown's own observations of her.

"She's Dawn's new friend." Malice said.

Poppy's eyes lit up, followed by a dark smirk. "Ooooh. Let's fix her up, then." The brown rabbit snapped her fingers as she walked past the three to the door. Unknown and Malice both held fast to one of the chameleon girl's arms and half-dragged, half-carried her down the hall after the little rabbit girl.

Had Espio or Vector been there, they would have noticed the little girl's fingers twitching madly as they all walked. To anyone else, it looked as though the males knew exactly where to step, in perfect unison, where to look and exactly what to do when they got to a strange room.

**OoOoO**

"It's been hours, Vector." Espio told his boss, glancing at the clock again, "Kaity could be in some kind of trouble."

Vector glanced at the clock as well and sighed, "Alright, let's go search, boys."

"Search party! Search party!" Charmy cheered, zipping out the door after his fellow detectives.

**OoOoO**

"Vectooooooooor," Charmy whined sleepily, "I'm tired….I wanna go to sleep."

"I know, Charmy." The croc yawned, they had taken an hour or two combing the main city and asking the chameleon girl's friends if they had heard from her. No one had. "We've just got one more place to look, just stay awake, alright?"

Charmy groaned, "But you always said the Slugs was dangerous at night. Especially for us."

Even Espio was tired, too tired to even point out to Charmy that the Slums were too dangerous at night, not the Slugs. "He's right, Vector," Espio admitted, "We're barely awake as it is. If we're attacked we won't stand a chance."

Vector sighed; he knew Espio and Charmy were right. It was well past midnight and not a shred of evidence had popped up to give them a clue as to where their friend could be. But, say something had happened to her? What if she just could not get back to them and would not last the rest of the night?

When he ran this theory by his teammates, Charmy was suddenly a bit more awake with worry, but Espio remained calm; "I've trained her myself, Vector, she knows exactly what she's doing." He said, "Besides, if she were in trouble, I have every confidence that she would be more than able to manage it and escape."

Vector snorted and directed the team, reluctantly, back to the Chaotix Detective Agency. "You're ninja training, Mr. Ego?"

Espio growled quietly, "No, _Mr. Mom_."

Vector winced at the memories the name brought up, "Why you gotta go there?"

"Because I can." The chameleon retorted, "I know she'll be fine because I've seen her handle all kinds of situations, she's…" He paused for a moment, "She's alright at it." He said finally with a shrug.

Vector smirked, they three knew she was more than 'alright' at dealing with situations, of course, it was not the ninja's nature to show he was worried or impressed. "Yeah, I guess. We'll just search more tomorrow."

**OoOoO**

While the Chaotix had been searching, the captive detective had undergone the same process Silver had been put through, and sat quietly in a chair similar to the rabbit girl's, still and thoughtless.

**I think these are getting shorter and shorter...which sucks 'cause I really want to get this done. Also, while I have your attention, I'm wondering who here knows about the ACTA thing.**


	9. One Step Closer

**I tried to come up with some clever, witty title, but I came up blank. D:**

**Honestly, I'm kind of getting sick of this story...it's kinda changed at lot since I got the real idea. XD SO this may end soon so I can get on with more exciting stories. :3**

Chapter 9: One Step Closer

Vector woke to the sound of a knock on his door. "Who is it?" He asked in a groggly voice, sitting up in bed and looking to the door as the knocker came in.

"Mr. Snatchel stopped by to see how we were handling the investigation." Espio told his boss, "And 'asked' that we also find the gem of his that was stolen; The Red Flower."

"Great." Vector grumbled, pulling himself out of bed, "Everything and everyone is going missing left and right." He slipped on his shoes and headphones and stepped out into their office, knocking on Charmy's door on the way, "Charmy, time to get up." He said.

Neither of the reptiles stuck around to hear the bee whine about how early it was. "Kaity still hasn't come back." Espio reported, "She hasn't called, her bed hasn't been touched…or, I have to assume so." He then grumbled something about her messy bed, Vector could only smirk.

"Well, first things first," Vector decided, "We find Kaity and find out what she knows about Poppy; if anything, find Silver and the Red Flower and finish this job."

"And if we can't find Kaity?" Espio questioned.

"We shake Unknown down again. He's pretty easy to scare into talking…with the right technique." Vector grinned wide enough to show his sparkling, sharp teeth. To most mobians and humans that was already a sign of danger; Espio barely gave the smile a thought.

"I suppose that could work. He did say Poppy had Silver."

The buzz of wings caught up to the two, as they sat on their couch to think, "So, if we find Silver, we find Kaity, right?" The bee yawned.

"That, and vice versa." The chameleon nodded, "Then there's just the problem of finding The Red Flower."

"Flower? I'm good at finding flowers!" Charmy said cheerily, more awake now.

"Not that kind of flower, Charmy." Vector sighed, covering his face with both hands. "We need to find where Poppy is, first. Probably Malice's hideout, but we don't know where that is, either."

"I bet Unknown does." Charmy volunteered.

"Of course he does, he _works_ for Malice." Espio huffed, "But then we still have to find Unknown."

"Found 'im!" Charmy chirped, making the other two reptiles all but jump. The little bee pointed out the window to an old tree sitting not far from the agency, and on a sturdy branch of the tree, was the black chameleon they had seen before, fast asleep on the branch.

Vector blinked, completely befuddled at their luck. "Erm…good work, Charmy."

Charmy smiled proudly at his accomplishment. He buzzed after his fellow detectives outside to the tree the sleeping assassin was in. Now that they were closer, they could see his trademark weapon, a golden gun, sitting in his lap as he snoozed.

"He probably came to try his luck again." Vector observed, "Espio, get him down here…but don't wake him up, we don't need him running to Malice."

Espio nodded and silently climbed the tree and brought the black chameleon down.

"But didn't he want to help us before?" Charmy asked, "Remember? He mentioned the doll stuff and everything?"

"This is just…" Vector tried to think of a good word for what they were doing.

"A precaution." Espio answered, carrying the sleeping male inside, "Unknown changes sides as quick as it can save his life."

Vector nodded, "Right!"

**OoOoO**

After spending most of the night being forced to play with Poppy, Kaity, and the rabbit girl, Silver the Chaotix had called her, Unknown was more than happy to take the chance to get out from Poppy's control for a while. The last thing he remembered before drifting to sleep was hopping into a tree with his gun, should the Chaotix make themselves easy targets for him, and slipping off into La-la-land.

When he woke up, he was startledto find he was no longer on a branch. As he snapped awake, he recognized the Chaotix Detective Agency.

"He's awake!" Charmy beamed.

Only Espio seemed to notice the bee's cry, he came immediately over. Unknown visibly cringed at the dark look the detective game him. Vector, on the other hand, was at his desk with Unknown's gun set out, the golden bullets scattered on the desk and a bulky microscope in front of him while he examined one of the bullets.

"These must cost quite a bit." Vector mused as he looked it over under the microscope, "I knew you had a lot of money, but these must be…what, somewhere in the thousands? Per bullet?"

"Quarter million." The chameleon replied, more than happy to show off his wealth to the poor detectives, "But at a million a pop, I can afford to buy them."

Vector whistled, "Where'd Malice get four million?"

"You're getting off topic, Vector." Espio interrupted. He turned back to Unknown, "Kaity went missing yesterday. We were hoping you could explain what happened. And where to find her."

"Do I have to?" Unknown groaned, he was not keen on the idea of giving away Malice's location, he would also be running around looking for a new base.

"You don't have to." Espio shrugged, "I could find a way to make you if you'd prefer to be stubborn."

The assassin was never a fan of seeing what the ninja would do to get someone talking, "Well, when you put it that way." He said with a weak smile, "How about I just take you there instead?"

"Sweet!" Charmy whooped, "Team Chaotix to the-!"

Unknown interrupted, "But we go on my terms." He said seriously, dampening Charmy's enthusiasm, "You're all blindfolded. You won't come after Malice's hideout after you get your little girlfriend, alright?"

The ninja's golden eyes met the shamrock green eye for a moment. "Agreed." He said in an almost grave tone, "How do you intend to blindfold us?"

"Well, I was thinking I could shoot your eyes out." The three could not tell if he was joking or not, "But I figure you have something here I could use, right?"

Espio looked back at Vector, who was now listening intently, "I'm sure we've got something." The croc said.

**So, ahead of time warning, the next chaper will be mostly FC-based. Don't like it? Too bad. Just don't read it.**

**If I'm coming off as cranky that's because it's seven in the morning. When I could've been sleeping much later.**


	10. Almost Out

**Bet you're shocked I posted this. I am too...but you all have Misty the hedgehog to thank for that X3 I've been writing with her for a while and figured I might as well finish this and move on to others.**

**So we've got this snazzy new feature of adding sotry covers, huzzah!**

Chapter 10: Almost Out

Poppy grinned at the two mobians that sat in the room. She had switched into her jeans and shirt since Unknown had captured the detective. She hated the clothes the nicer side of her wore, but had to tolerate it while she was dormant. But, on the bright side, the nice version of her had unknowingly helped capture one of the detectives that was tracking her down; or so she had been told by Unknown and Malice.

She walked over to the chameleon and looked her over, "You need a name." She told the teenager. The girl did not respond. "How about Julie?" She asked.

Still no response.

Poppy crossed her arms, "Well you're no fun are you?" she half growled, "At least Dawn whined a bit when I got her."

**OoOoO**

"Are we almost there?" Charmy whined from his place on Vector's shoulder.

"Just shut up." Unknown growled, "You asked that five seconds ago."

"But it's taking to loooooooooooong." The bee complained.

"Just quiet down, Charmy." Vector said, "You're not the one walking the whole way."

"But it's booooooooooooooring!"

The trio could hear their guide grumble something, but made no response to it. "Just another ten minutes." The black chameleon said. "And you better not be getting any smart ideas, ninja boy." He added in a growl.

"I'm doing nothing of the sort." Espio replied calmly.

Unknown looked back at the three with a scowl, they were blind folded so could not see it, but he knew they would have been wearing dirty looks if they could see him. Vector had a hand on Espio's shoulder and the ninja chameleon's hand on the assassin's shoulder. It was much easier than telling them what to avoid and be sure they weren't walking off somewhere else on accident and looked more mature then leading them along by some rope for them to hold onto like a kindergarten or first grade class would do.

**OoOoO**

Unknown walked up to the building his boss called a hideout; the building used to be storage for a technology and research company, but was abandoned once the business shut down. The chameleon's boss, Malice "Blackjack" the Rabbit, had taken it over and used what was left behind to make various inventions or find anything interesting popping up in Station Square.

The black chameleon stopped at the door, "Stop." He told the three detectives, and they did. Unknown keyed in a quick code and the door opened with a _click_. "Alright, we're here." Unknown told them as they stepped in and shut the door behind them then kept walking. "If Malice catches us, you forced me to bring you here, got it?"

"Yeah, whatever." Vector shrugged, taking off the blindfold once they had entered the building.

"Poppy's "special" room is down that hall, it'll dead end, just push on the wall." The black chameleon told them, walking down the hall and disappearing from sight as he turned down another. He appeared a moment later, "Oh, and if she yells 'security' just run." And disappeared shortly after his advice.

The croc had to admit the inside of Malice's hideout was more homey than he had expected it to be; it was nothing like a normal living place, but where he imagined metal or concrete floors there was a carpet, granted, nothing luxurious, but a carpet all the same. The walls were the metal he expected them to be and each door seemed locked with similar metal doors with keypads mounted by each one. One of the few unclosed doors went into a modern kitchen with plenty of space to cook or work with a long island counter surrounded by tall, sleek black chairs.

The three detectives walked down the hall silently; not wanting to set off any security Unknown may have failed to mention. It did not take long to reach the end of the hallway and the dead end Unknown told them would be there.

Espio carefully pushed on the wall, letting it move enough to give them an inch of space to see into the room. The three crowded the crack they had made to see into the room; inside was the brown rabbit girl Espio recalled seeing in the mall and the phony sending address; instead of her shirt and long skirt, she wore the clothes the Chaotix had seen her in when walking with Unknown.

They couldn't make out the words she was saying, but could clearly see she was talking to two girls that sat on metal, very Frankenstein-esque chairs connected to a single machine. The males instantly recognized the chameleon as their lost detective and the second girl as their client's daughter.

"Vector, isn't that the necklace that guy wanted us to find?" Charmy asked, spying the ruby necklace around Silver's neck.

"Looks like it, kiddo." Vector nodded, then backed away from the wall, followed quickly by Espio and Charmy, who huddled by Vector. "Alright, boys, she's just a little girl, so no use fighting her. We're just gonna go in, get the girls and leave, okay? Don't even bother with Poppy."

"Rodger." Espio nodded.

"Okay!" Charmy agreed.

The two reptiles and bee burst into the room, clearly catching Poppy by surprise and made quick work of the straps keeping Kaity and Silver in place.

"Put them back!" Poppy screamed once she had recovered from the initial shock. She followed the three as they carried her dolls away, barely acknowledging her. "I said stop!" She pulled on the big crocodile's tail, but he didn't react.

The brown rabbit snarled and shouted, "Security!"

**I'm finishing up in the next chapter, I can't wait to have this one and move on to another story. X3**


	11. Poppy Tier's Loss

**Final Chapter. FINALLY.**

Chapter 11: Poppy Tier's Loss

The detectives, as Unknown had advised, bolted down the hall, hearing something following at a quick pace only seconds after.

The largest detective chanced a look behind them; seeing a small herd of dolls, some with metal jaws, others with glowing red eyes that no doubt hid lasers, and others with menacing abilities endowed to them, were closing in quickly.

Their mistress followed close behind the dolls, screaming and demanding that the Chaotix bring back her 'dolls'. "Give them back!" She shouted, "Give them _back_!"

"Run faster." Vector advised his team, who quickly obeyed.

Their path was nothing but a straight line to the door, making the chase within Malice's hideout a short-lived one. As the trio ran through the front door, Poppy's cries went from anger to anguish as she screamed more from inside Malice's hideout, the dolls having stopped at the threshold.

**OoOoO**

When Kaity finally came to, she found herself back in the Chaotix Detective Agency. Her last clear memory was being caught and dragged away by Malice and Unknown, the rest was fuzzy at best.

She sat up on the couch, hearing a loud, nagging voice of another girl in the room. "I'm telling my Daddy on all of you!" She squealed, "Let me go right now!"

"You're father hired us to find you." Vector explained, "Don't you remember anything?" He asked the silver rabbit they had been looking for.

"I remember someone taking me from the mall, and then I wake up here!" the rabbit huffed.

"I don't remember anythin' either." Kaity said, getting looks from everyone in the room. "I remember getting' caught, but nothin' up 'til now."

"Interesting." Espio said thoughtfully, "But I guess it makes sense to keep you unconscious; easier to control a person when they can't say 'no'."

"What are you all talking about?" Silver demanded, flipping her ears over her shoulder, "And where's my Daddy? If he _really_ hired you, how come he isn't here?" She glared accusingly at Vector.

"Calm the hell down." Kaity snorted, "Yer dad's probably on 'is way."

"Well—" Silver was cut off as Kaity snarled,

"Listen ya little brat," She hissed, "I had ta plat with and got turned into a _doll_ tryin' ta find ya with these three. Now sit down, _shut up_, and wait fer yer dad ta get here!"

The silver rabbit closed her mouth and sat down quietly.

Kaity smiled at the Chaotix's surprised looks, "First thing 'bout dealin' with a kid; gotta let 'em know who's in charge."

Less than a minute later, Robert Santchel appeared in the agency, taking his daughter in his arms. "Thank you, Detectives." He said, more cheerful than the four had ever seen him. "You found my daughter _and_ the Red Flower before the police could start, you truly are the world's greatest detectives."

"Just doin' our job, Mr. Santchel." Vector beamed.

**OoOoO**

To celebrate a job well done, the four went out to dinner that night; it was also Kaity's night to cook, but no one was going to mention their underlying motive to avoid trying eat anything the chameleon girl didn't catch on fire.

"It's been a while since we ate out." Kaity noted, stretching a bit.

"Well, thank Mr. Snatchel." Vector chuckled, "I still can't believe how much he paid us."

"It even shocked Espio!" Charmy giggled.

Espio crossed his arms indignantly, "I wasn't shocked." He huffed.

"Ya were." Kaity smirked.

"Yeah, strange case." Vector said, "But I kinda feel bad for Poppy."

Espio nodded, "Those dolls were her only friends; you could see that in how she tried to get them back."

"Those security dolls were scary, though!" Charmy added, "One almost bit me!"

Kaity laughed, "Damn, I missed all this?"

"Maybe you won't next time we have to deal with Poppy." Espio shrugged, "She's a child and perhaps a villain; she may not give up until she gets what she wants."

**I'm so excited to be done with this; Now since my other two stories tied, I'm working on _Chaos Beyond Chaos_ until one gets more votes than the other :3 I'll make a new poll for it, though.  
Even though maybe only one person reads my shit anymore XD**


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